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Review of Helix Pencil Top Sharpener Combo.

I found these at Office Depot during back-to-school shopping season. They cost $0.99 for a pack of two with one yellow pencil. I figured these were certainly worth a chance, and I am happy I bought more than one pack.

These are marketed as a combo-solution. There is a plastic sharpener encased within a rubbery housing. The housing is an eraser. To boot, one can use this as a semi-efficient point protector; turning the pencil in such a situation sharpens it a bit. I can’t find the item on Helix’s website, since they are now part of Maped. I’ve seen a few Maped items at USA stores lately, and I am hoping they might bring their pencils here.

The sharpener is actually pretty good, giving a point similar in angle to a standard wedge sharpener. I tested a very cheap pencil first, as these are generally difficult to sharpen. The shavings came off in a nice long ribbon, which I found very surprising for some reason. I suppose that this item smacked of being “gimmicky” with its price and bizzarre design. Designing two items which are eaten away in use (sharpener that goes dull and an eraser that goes to dust) together is pretty smart, and it echoes the ephemeral nature of a wooden pencil itself.

The screw is designed to not be removable (for safety, I assume). So replacing the blades looks impossible. At $0.50 each, though, this is not terrible — doubly so because so much of the material is usable as an eraser.

Speaking of the eraser — I’m not sure we’ve ever actually reviewed erasers. Part of this is that I just don’t like them. Or, at least, I used to not like them. They reminded me of nuns standing over my shoulder looking angry that my math homework was sloppy (though correct!). I think I’m over that now (sigh). And this is unavoidable anyway. We can’t review this without mentioning the eraser.

For another surprise, I’m, well, surprised by how well the eraser works! The performance on the black one I tested feels like a Black Pearl or black Factis. But it erases better, with with less effort.

While it is unremarkable looking at best (I think it’s more…ugly), the pencil the set comes with is not bad. It produces a nice, dark line, though the finish is pretty disappointing. The label is already coming off. The UK versions have pencils which coordinate with the sharpeners, but all of the US versions I have seen only have yellow pencils. (Go figure.)

So this set winds up coming with a decent (if ugly) pencil and two good sharpeners held by excellent erasers. All for a buck. I was surprised by the quality of each item/function. Comrades, this eraser and sharpener combo is a keeper. Nab some, if you can find them. I’m not linking to sellers, but I’ve seen very good deals on eBay…

3 thoughts on “Review of Helix Pencil Top Sharpener Combo.”

We recently discovered our now favorite stick eraser, the Papermate Tuff Stuff. It is perfect for getting into tight spaces and just erasing what you need erased. We found it at the art store and I can see why artists would love this; it is ideal for school writing as well. It seems to last quite long — maybe even longer than the Staedtler and Pentel stick erasers! If you haven’t tried, you should.

Unfortunately this Helix pencil top sharpener combo is discontinued and can no longer be purchased at office depot. Maped Helix USA has other fun and innovative products that you can try out. Would you be interested in trying some of our Maped sharpeners and pencils, if yes please contact me at lgaribay@maped-helixusa.com. We appreciate your product review. Thank you!